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She needed to do something. Stop this, before she did something stupid. Like rip off that shirt and bite down on those abs.
Control yourself woman.
One fake cough later, she spoke again. “My eyes are up here, buddy.”
This time, his head jerked up so fast, there was no doubt he’d heard her. For a moment he looked sheepish, but as she flashed him a knowing smile, he returned a devilish grin.
“You look good, princess. Really fucking good.”
Yeah. He definitely can’t see my jiggly bits from this angle.
“Thanks. Um ... you too.” His smile got even wider as her cheeks got pinker. “I’ll just,” she paused, completely forgetting what she was about to say.
Urgh. Really? Stupid brain. One sexy guy checks you out and you start malfunctioning ... seriously?
Zach didn’t speak. Probably because Libby had lifted her index finger in his direction, the universal sign that indicated she needed a minute. He gave her that minute. Watching in fascination and a little amusement. Now all she had to do was hit the restart button on her brain.
It took a whole minute, but it worked. She remembered.
“I’ll just go get my bag!” she quickly blurted, before disappearing back inside.
Jesus Libby, how have you already embarrassed yourself ... you’ve not even left the house yet!
After snagging her purse off the kitchen counter, she took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself down. It helped. A little. Although by the time she’d returned to the front door and taken another look at the fine ass man standing there, she was starting to regret agreeing to go out with him. This was just a disaster waiting to happen. The man was far too tempting not to touch. But touching led to complicated. And complicated usually led to her leaving town. Which wasn’t ideal seeing as she’d barely been there a week.
Trying her best to ignore chemistry that she was beginning to suspect had an actual gravitational pull, she decided to try her hand at small talk during the drive over. With a few choice questions, she learned more about the fundraiser and the activities they had on today. Currently, they were discussing the men that Zach worked with. For some reason, the latter was making her nervous. Meeting his friends felt like a big deal. A huge part of her also wanted to make a good first impression. Or second more like. There was a strong possibility they’d already seen her in her pink pajamas.
Stupid, dumb toaster.
“I’m close with most of the guys, but the ones I see outside of work are my buddies Benny, Luke and Hunter,” Zach continued. “We’ve been through a lotta shit together. I’m probably closer to them than I am my own brothers.”
No pressure then. “What are they like?”
“Well, Benny’s the youngest. A baby, really, at twenty-five. He also thinks he’s the funniest and likes to play pranks on us. Luke is my age, thirty-three. I guess he’s what some might consider the most cynical of the lot of us.”
“How come?” Libby tilted her head with the question and didn’t miss the newly formed frown crinkling Zach’s brow.
“He had it rough growing up. He doesn’t really like to talk about it. But I get the feeling he had to fight really fucking hard to have the life he has now.” She nodded in understanding. She got that.
“And Hunter ... well, he’s the oldest. And a man of very few words. As in sometimes you have to drag them outta him.” Zach chuckled and shook his head. “Most people are intimidated by him ‘cause he’s massive. Six foot five.” Wow. “But don’t let his size fool you, he’s a gentle giant underneath that gruff exterior.”
Libby felt a little bit better knowing what she was about to step into. Preparation was the key to success and all that. And at least she only had to charm three men and not the whole precinct. That couldn’t be too hard, could it?
***
Two hours into the fundraiser, Zach had introduced her to a lot of people, but she still hadn’t met the infamous Benny, Luke and Hunter. Libby had to admit she was having fun, though. She’d convinced Zach to join her on one of the fire station and truck tours and had found the whole thing fascinating.
They were about to listen to one of the fire safety talks when Libby’s belly betrayed her. It roared so loudly she swore the children in the front row turned to look at her. Zach, of course, heard it too. Which led to him taking her hand and dragging her out of there. He then proceeded to seat her at one of the picnic benches while he went to get them food.
She could get used to this.
To her surprise, Zach returned not only with cold beers and burgers, but three friends. She could tell straight away these were the men he’d spoken about. The six foot five, dark haired giant with him kind of gave it away. Like Zach, all the men were easy on the eyes but in very different ways.
“Guys, this is Libby. Libby, these are my friends.” Zach placed the food and drinks on the table and remained standing as he gestured at each of the men. “This here is Hunter.”
“Nice to meet you.”
Libby rose and went to shake Hunter’s hand. Zach was right, he was big. Even his hand managed to swallow hers.
